Assignment 1 - Contrasts

Assignment 1 deals with contrasts, meaning that it requires eight pairs of photographs, each pair representing a contrast (e.g. "many - few", with one photo featuring "many" and the other one "few"). Plus one photo that will have the two contrasting features present together.

The possible pairs are:

large - small

many - few

transparent - opaque

broad - narrow

diagonal - rounded

continuous - intermittent

long - short

pointed - blunt

liquid - solid

light - dark

hard - soft

thick - thin

smooth - rough

strong - weak

much - little

light - heavy

black - white

still - moving

high - low

straight - curved

sweet - sour

I tried many of them, but what I saved in the end for the project will follow below.

1. Large - small

I chose "Singapore flyer" for "large" because of its sheer size. I tried to extend the frame downwards to show the tables and umbrellas, for comparison. I used a wide angle lens (11mm) to be able to capture the whole image, and a polarizer filter for the sky.

Large

Small

The moment I decided that "Singapore flyer" would be my "large" subject, I also decided to look for another wheel for "small". And the simplest way was to photograph a bicycle. But as I didn't have the possibility to put both together, in the same picture, I couldn't choose a normal bike, because it wouldn't have looked "small" enough. And one day, while I was shopping for toys for my son, I came across this small bikes shelf, and there it was: the small bicycle that I needed. So I put it on my balcony's edge, threw the background out of focus and had a friend holding it's rare wheel, so it's size would be more obvious. And compared to other photos within the assignment, the result made me happy. I used a 50mm lens to be able to emphasize the bike, by throwing the background out of focus.

2. Transparent - opaque

I liked trying to convey the meaning of "transparent". The idea appealed to me from the beginning. I'm not sure I chose the best subject, or setting, but my goal was to be able to focus on the flower through the bubble, and render it sharp, so the bubble would look perfectly "transparent". I used a 50 mm lens, which is my best lens for close-ups.

Transparent

Opaque

When I decided to choose a "translucent" image/setting for "opaque", I did it because I couldn't find any subject/image that would look "opaque" on its own, if not in contrast with "transparent". And I do have an image representing this particular contrast in the same photograph (which I will put in at the end of the assignment), but I didn't want to give up on my "flower through the bubble" image that I used for "transparent". So I chose to present this contrast in a pair of two photographs. And I photographed my "opaque" husband through his "translucent" office door, with the same 50mm lens, which helped me render the image softer.

3. Pointed - blunt

I picked this building to represent the idea of "pointed", because every time I see it, that's the feeling it gives me (sharp, pointed, metallic). I used a wide angle lens, at 17mm and I took the photo from a low angle to emphasize the upper corner's sharpness.

Pointed

Blunt

And I chose this building for "blunt" because, in contrast with the other one, it looked to me like a blunt pencil. I'm aware that on its own, it doesn't necessarily convey the meaning of "blunt", but I hoped that paired up with the "pointed" one, might be a choice. I used the same wide angle lens (but at 21 mm). Both photographs were taken using a polarizer.

4. Hard - soft

For "hard" I chose a coconut as a subject. When I saw it on the grocery store shelf, cut like this, I thought "wow...that's hard". So...here it is. I put the knife in it just to make sure it looks hard to other people as well. There were other ideas that crossed my mind (like hard work, for example), but my imagination didn't "work hard" enough to come up with a good idea to convey that. So I sticked to the more "literal" meaning. The photo was taken with the 50mm, for throwing the background out of focus.

Hard

Soft

I had a hard time deciding which of my photographs would qualify for "soft" and which for "smooth", among the next two photographs presented here. Then one morning, while using my facial cream I really became aware of this sensation of "soft", I could stick my hand in it, go through it, compared to the flowers that I could just caress, for fear of not damaging them. So then I knew that the flowers will be my "smooth" subject, and the cream will go for "soft". Am I making any sense here ?! Anyway both are taken with the 50mm lens.

5. Smooth - rough

Smooth

Rough

And because the subject for "smooth" came up to be a flower, I wanted to convey the meaning of "rough" by using another plant, that would be in contrast with the smooth white flower, and I chose this cactus, which, to me, looked rough enough. (also with a 50mm lens).

6. Strong - weak

For "strong" I chose the Angsana tree, because when I first saw these trees, I got an impression of power and beauty at the same time. They are really strong, marvelous trees. And I tried to show this in my photo, but I didn't get quite the result I wanted. I used a wide angle lens (at 20mm).

Strong

Weak

I think I found a good subject for "weak", but I'm not entirely satisfied with the photo, as I wanted a softer background, but couldn't set my camera properly to obtain that.

7. Light - heavy

The badminton shuttlecock seems one of the best candidates to convey the meaning of "light", but I didn't come up with the idea, it was ..."presented to me". While I was taking the photograph of the flowers that eventually became the representative for "smooth", I saw this shuttlecock on the ground. Somebody must have lost it or forgot it there. I put it on the water, and I suddenly felt I had the best subject possible for "light" (I'm not sure it would look the same for other people, but this is how it was for me). I used the 50mm lens for this photo.

Light

Heavy

This photo looks more like a joke, but it seemed more original at the time I took it, in comparison with weights in the gym, or a heavy person on the sea-saw.

8. Sweet - sour

The honey comb was the first thing I thought of for "sweet", and I went straight to the honey section and bought one, as soon as I started taking the photographs for this assignment. I oscillated between this photo and another one that had a spoon on the plate as well, but in the end, this one seemed to look better. I used the 50mm lens and natural available light, coming through the window.

Sweet

Sour

The subject for "sour" is very common, nothing original about it. What I wanted to do was to show real lemon juice drops, which give ME the feeling of "sour".

9. Straight/curved

I think this building is a good subject for the "straight - curved" contrast, but I couldn't expose very well for both the sky and the building. So I got a photograph that's a little underexposed, but otherwise suitable for its purpose (I hope...).

It was taken with the wide angle lens (at 17mm), aperture 2.8.

The Frame - 9

Project: Cropping and extending

Exercise: Cropping

This exercise requires a few photographs that will be cropped, in order to experiment the feeling of finding different pictures within photographs already taken.

So here they are:

Photo 1

In this crop, I isolated the first house, because I wanted to make it more visible. Now the photo appears in vertical format, and the lines of the house guide the eye up and down, so even the orange fruit in the tree, are also more visible than in the initial image. And that's the element that attracted me the most after I took this photo.

Crop photo 1

Photo 2

In the second crop I wanted to bring closer the distinctive characteristic of Fuji Television building, in Tokyo, it's spherical part, that makes it unique.

Crop photo 2

Photo 3

Crop no. 3 shows the jetfoil ship closer, and in a different part of the frame. I thought this placement would emphasize it's shape, color and the sense of speed.

Crop photo 3

Photo 4

In crop 4 I just brought the subject(s) closer, because it's not very common to see newborn birds, and I thought any viewer would like a closer look of these cute, little babies, in their nest.

Crop photo 4

So in all the crops I basically brought some parts of the photos closer, in order to emphasize various elements. Not very creative, I'm afraid, but this is what I felt I should do when I looked at these photos.

The Frame - 8

Project: Frame shapes and sizes

Exercise: Vertical and horizontal frames

This exercise is meant to make us more aware of the possibility of using the vertical format, and not only the horizontal one. So I had to take 20 photographs twice, first using the vertical format, then the horizontal one, for the same scenes, where possible. And to be able to have all the scenes in both formats, I couldn't help it, and I photographed every scene in both formats from the beginning, instead of taking all the photos in vertical first, and afterwards in horizontal format. And I think this helped me even more, because I became aware of the difficulties of using one format or the other for some of the scenes, in trying to capture a good image, vertically or horizontally.

I won't display all the photos here and I will try to categorize the ones that I display, as there were photos in which the scene worked better in vertical format, and others in which the scene worked better in horizontal.

I'll start with the photos that I think look better in vertical format. As it was shown in the course, I was kind of encouraged to look for tall or "vertical" objects in the beginning. But then I tried to disregard the shape of the objects, and just tried to fit them in both formats, the best I could.

1.

First pair of photos represents a tall building, that looks better in vertical format, as I could capture the whole body of the building, and a little bit of the surroundings too.

Pair 1

The horizontal scene of pair 1, looks "unfinished", as I couldn't capture the whole building in the photo, form my location, and I didn't have other possible locations.

2.

Second pair of photos shows a landscape, in which I tried to fit the whole hight of a coconut tree.

Pair 2

I like both versions, but in the horizontal scene, the tree's upper branches don't fit in the frame entirely, and this seems a bit frustrating. And although I like the composition with the tree, cloud, ship and short pillar that guide the viewer's eye in a sort of nice diagonale through the picture, I still go for the vertical version.

3.

In the third pair, the vertical image looks again better then horizontal one, as the subject is better framed vertically.

Pair 3

The horizontal version has too much space to the right and left of the subject, and there is nothing interesting to balance it in either direction.

4.

The fourth pair shows a simple image, a bench. The horizontal version looks a bit nicer in color, but I think it's too static. So I prefer the vertical image, which seems more dynamic, because of the pavement lines.

Pair 4

Pairs 5 and 6 have people as subjects, and they look bigger and clearer in vertical format, because they are standing (or riding a vehicle), and they fit better in the frame, so they are closer vertically. But I think it is also important to consider the initial purpose of the photograph. Is it just the person? Or the surroundings as well? Because in the case of the little girl, for example, the horizontal image shows a nice background and shadows on the alley. Plus it happened that her face lit up in a beautiful smile, and she looks nicer although she is further away then in the vertical version.

5.

Pair 5

6.

Pair 6

7.

I think pair 7 is comparable with pairs 5 and 6, in the sense that as I want to see people's faces better and closer (so from this point of view they look better in the vertical format), the same way I want to see what's written on the sides of the blue information pillar (or whatever it is), so in the vertical format it is closer and clearer.

Pair 7

The next few pairs present some images that look about the same in both vertical and horizontal formats, or in which the format criteria is not the one that makes them better or worse.

8.

In the case of pair 8, I cannot tell which of the versions is better. At least not from the format point of view. The vertical image looks better in color, the boy's face is nicer, but the photo is a bit static, compared to the horizontal version, in which he is actually bitting the apple. But these are not characteristics related to the vertical or horizontal format, as far as I can analyze.

Pair 8

9.

In pair 9, the vertical image has a portion of blown out sky, which doesn't look good, so I prefer the horizontal version. Otherwise, I couldn't say which one is better.


Pair 9

10.

In this case I like the vertical format, but I can't pinpoint the reason. It seems a little more dynamic, framing the feet more closely, and giving the sense of direction better than the horizontal image (!?).

Pair 10

The last set of photos is the one in which the images in horizontal format seem to work better than those in vertical.

11.

In pair 11, the round, kind of flat shape of the bars "roof top", fits much better in a horizontal format than in a vertical one.

Pair 11

12.

In pair 12, the "wider than taller" shape of the water slide fits better in the horizontal format, the same as the subject in pair 11.

Pair 12

13.

In pair 13 the double bridge over the pond is better framed in the horizontal format. (But the image as a whole is richer in elements, in the vertical format, showing the surroundings better).

Pair 13

14.

Pair 14 has another slide as a subject (actually a whole playground). And as they are usually bulky in shape, they fit better in a horizontal format.

Pair 14

This exercise helped me a lot in understanding frame divisions, shapes and sizes. And like all other exercises so far, really made me experiment a lot.